Hi All,
Having mounted a couple new tires (have to say nothing looks better than new rubber on green wheels) I have to regrease/adjust the bearings. Not having been on the road in probably 50 years, the old grease looked like molasses and felt about as sticky. How much play do I leave in the bearings? Not too familiar with the tapered rollers, all my other bikes use sealed ballraces. The book I have said to leave about 1/16 inch play at the rim , but with the wheels off the bike, do I just adjust by feel and hope it works OK?
Thanks, Vincent
Enfield, NS, Canada

email (option): bsa3man@rocketmail.com

hi vincent please be more specific,which model wheel bearings do you mean? cheers rick

email (option): richardholt@rocketmail.com

Oh sorry, since this is a M20 forum I assumed all WD M20 BSA wheels used the same bearings? It's a 1943 WDM20 with tapered roller wheel bearings front and rear. Were there other types?
Vince

email (option): bsa3man@rocketmail.com

Vincent, I clamp my spindle in a soft jaw vice so that the wheel is horizontal. You can then adjust the bearings and spin the wheel as required. It usually takes me a few goes at tightening up till it feels right. The rear wheel has a strange disc with holes and a peg for adjustment and a left hand thread lock nut. Ron

PS. I need one of these L/H nuts if anyone has one to sell.

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

The real difficulty I have found is lock tightening the front wheel bearing as there is not much room to get a spanner in, I assume there is a special spanner used for the front inner nut, is this correct?

Yes LJ. I bought this one from Cornucopia at Stafford this year, but I haven't tried it for size yet. I bought one from Henk some time ago, but I had to file it out to size. (Very easy). He has some other types on his for sale page. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

I modified a standard spanner to do this job..it wasn't too difficult. Pack the hubs and bearings with grease if you intend to cover a lot of miles and want the bearings to last..just greasing the bearings on assembly gives them insufficient protection. Application of the grease gun at the recommended intervals will then keep things nicely lubricated.
Every 12 months I also remove the the bearings, clean everything off and repack and re adjust the bearings etc.
Rear bearings seem particularly prone to failure/corrosion if not maintained.
I use the same method as Ron when making adjustments....do up the adjustment nuts all the way (lightly) and then back them off until you have approx. 1/32"-1/16" play at the rim, erring towards the smaller figure. Check the amount of movement after tightening the bearing locknuts as they can go tight when done up. If new felts are being fitted it is best to put them in after adjustments have been made as they will make the spindle tight to turn and affect the degree of 'feel' when making adjustments...Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com